New Delhi: India and UK will establish a India-UK networked Centre on Solar Energy, as a part of their commitment to the Solar Alliance.

"We have agreed to establish India-UK Clean Energy R&D Centre on solar energy with joint investment of 10 million pounds," said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, while speaking at the India-UK Tech Summit.

The reasearch and development center will be linked to India’s renewable energy mission and UK’s Supergens Programme. The research institute will focus on systems level design and development covering Solar energy generation, according to a government statement.

"India would be investing Rs.50 crores over a period of five years with matching contribution from Research Council UK (RCUK) under the Newton-Bhabha Programme," the government release added.

The Indian prime minister while speaking at the event also highlighted the importance of ‘Make in India’ in the bilateral engagement.

"The ‘Smart City’ mission aims to integrate digital technology into our rapidly urbanizing environment. I am glad that there is already a high level of interest from the UK in projects in Pune, Amaravati and Indore," Modi added.

The Indian head of the state encouraged further participation from UK companies in smart city projects and added that "UK companies have already signed deals worth 9 billion pounds".

India is the 3rd largest investor in UK, and UK is the largest G20 investor in India. Both countries support large numbers of jobs in each other’s economies.